Canton/Minerva October 25-26 AAR

[kDan]

Canton/Minerva A.A.R.

Joe and I got to the range Friday afternoon and had the target and firing lines up in an hour.  He had brought everything we needed, and I basically became the human clamp (I am an experienced human clamp) while he showed me how to do it.  Then it rained all night.

Saturday morning was wet, and the range was a mud-bath.  [attachment=2]An hour of digging earthworks and canals, and maneuvering vehicles around the grounds and we got started with a Red Coat.   Little bit of history and off and running with the squares targets.  It's a lot of information to fit into a Saturday morning (especially when you start with civil engineering), and we had less than thirty rounds down-range by lunch. 

The Local Youth Rifle Club had set up a lunch tent and grilled us up some wonderful buffalo burgers.  Really good chili too.  Thanks Peg and Tom!  Much Respect and Gratitude to you both!

We went through the traditional AQT COF and managed several of them by the end of the day.

We had some really good shooters at this event.  For example, on the first RedCoat we had 6 100 yarders,  4 each at 200 and 300, 1 @ 400 (he cleaned it), and 4 pumpkins out of 20 shooters!  Second R.C. as follows: 8,8,5,4,5 and two cleaners - no joke.  Two groups of mates on either side of the line seemed especially concentrated.  We had a group of Ohioans for Concealed Carry (2 Rifleman) stage-left and a group of very experienced friends (another 2 Rifleman) to the right.  First time I ever saw a Sig, and only my second HK91.  Both of these groups are poised to provide us with IIT's - (right guys?)  Redman qualified.  Go man go!

A hand extended to OfCC for all the support and cross-representing.  A good program to consider along with Appleseed.  I also want to say hello to the Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association - ORPA.  Reaching out to friendlies - a good fertilizing strategy. 

Bill owned the line on Saturday and Joe started quietly and then came on like a pitbull on Sunday.  Dinky spent most of Saturday attempting to show a couple teen-age girls what Step One means...  not sure they got it, but they were troopers, and they stuck it out smiling in the muck.  She represented with her history in fine style Sunday, showing she knows the story, and is capable of keeping everyone's attention.  All the instructors engaged a group of shooters that needed less help than any group I've seen so far.  We could have showed these people sling and positions,  then wrote the six-steps on a napkin and left them alone for the week-end.  I was very impressed.

Sunday was cold in the morning.  Good ol' Virginia Bill was flummoxed when he showed up dressed for Saturday's cold - for which he had been unprepared on Saturday - only to find Sunday was a whole different kinda cold.  Good luck at Ramseur in February!  Heheheh... bring a space-suit if you got one.  The sun came out and made it a beautiful day, but I kept my four shirts and jacket on all day long. 

We started Sunday with the experimental "Sunrise AQT", a rapid-fire, no-sighter first thing Sunday morning eye-opener.  Just like the last time I tried this, one Rifleman - hmm...  Nice way to start the day. 

We followed up alternating Standard "Transition" (JB) AQT's with Nickle-style Rapid-Fires.  Obviously, it is important to teach transitions, mag changes and the proper C.O.F. for the AQT, but a few Rapid-Fires on Sunday proved to be just what the doctor ordered for these shooters.  I like how the change-ups make the shooters think and everybody's got to stay on their toes.  Keep alert...  What does JB say?  Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome?    something like that.

Bill worked with three of the youth group's shooters during lunch and missed out on a burger for the second day in a row.  I don't know but maybe he's got an eating disorder.  I stuffed my face both days.  The young 'uns left some pretty remarkable redcoat targets behind for us all to gawk at.  One Rifleman remarked how he'd been humiliated by a 14 year-old girl with a borrowed rifle.

By the end of the Sunday, we had a total of six Rifleman out of the 20 and 15 shooters, respectively over the two days.  A couple shooters talked to me and the other instructors about land they own and may be willing to offer for future shoots.  This is great - no doubt no question - but the fact remains we need more Rifleman to use the patch as a step along the path to becoming Instructors.  Take the cap, fellas!

Can't get my pix to load.  I'll try again later.  Anybody want some, just pm me with your email and i'll send them to you.

Anybody else please add to what I've got here.  Good People as usual.

[cannonman61]

Hey KDan and crew,

Glad to hear the shoot went of Ok! If those teen girls were from the junior rifle team Tom coaches, that rifleman has nothing to be ashamed of. Tom drills those kids very well on the fundamentals of marksmanship. They have done well in National competition.

To bad the weather was tough. That makes 2 for two in the weather department for the Minerva shoots. The first one was the hottest First June weekend in History and the second was a cold wet shoot. But I bet it was still a winner with the shooters on the line.

I didn't get to hear how my buddy Muxtex did. I hope he shot rifleman! Thos OFCCer's will make good instructors. We already pulled one of theirs for instructor as Mean Streaker took the plunge already. I'm thinking big Shafe and Muxtex would be good ones too as well as others I can't recall names for right now from the June event. The Ohio Rifle and Pistol Assoc is also ferltile ground for recruitment. I don't live up there anymore guys, I can't do the BOTG thing from Savannah. We need a few of you locals to grab the bull by the horn and "make it happen cap'n".

As for there being good shooters up there, brother you know it. When I lived there 20+ years ago, I knew tons of guys that would rather shoot than, well you know. They were dang good to at all ranges and from different positions. I hoped it hadn't changed that much and from what I saw in June in the heat stressed dust and heard from this wet, cold event, there are still men among the Buckeye who know well what they are about. I am glad of that.

CM61

[sixgunsal]

Kdan, I had a great time at this shoot and everyone was a joy to be around!! Dinky was a big help with my trigger slap. I shot a 201 and a 203 on saturday, but just couldn't crack Rifleman. I am still pleased with my scores seeing that my previous high was 175!!  Too bad You had too catch Your plane , You were more than welcome to shoot my PTR-91. These rifles are either LOVED or HATED there never seems to any in between with them. I have to say this is the most reliable rifle I have ever owned!!!  My 2 shooting buddies got their patches and would like to RO some minis this year when Dinky has some.  Be careful in occupied territory (NYC) !!!! 

[kDan]

Kdan,   Be careful in occupied territory (NYC) !!!! 

I'm staging a holding action here in the city to keep lines of communication open for when you all run out of bagels and champagne!  Two great tastes that taste great together.  good for dippin'.

Somebody's just got to come and get me!!!  I'll be at the top of the Chrysler Building (more stylish than the Empire State - as of recently the tallest building I can see from my window).  I'll be the guy with the bow and arrows and the tire iron , in the red hat waving the Bennington Battle Flag! 

Sixgun, your rifle is beautiful, and I would loved to got a chance to shoot it, even if I wouldn't have grouped as nice as you did... but - I made my flight, after washing the evidence off the car (the scratch was there before the OFCC did a Dorothy and dropped a house on my rental ).  Some advice to all you folks who love those $60 free-standing canopies - STAKE IT DOWN!  Just ask b964, right buddy...  Allemans, Pa.?  $60 kite is more like it. - whoop - there it goes!

Hey, R...  I haven't heard a thing.  Think we're in the clear brother!  Power to the People!

[Frenchie]

The OFCC crowd was in the house..making up about 25% of the line.  Muxy did not make Rifleman...his old problem came back, he shot the wrong target.  There were 4 of us on the left side of the line, separated by a lake from the rest of the shooters.  We had decided earlier in the week to start filling in from the left, so we stuck with it.  We even wrote "No Mark" on our cardboard to keep Muxy on the right target...he came out strong, and he would have made it on the second AQT, but he shot the third row on my target. He never recovered and started having feeding issues with his 10/22 LTR...in my book, he made it....he has been putting in mondo work since June.

It wasn't the largest Appleseed in the world, but it was a quality shoot.  The instructors put in their work, and we pumped out a lot of shots.  I pulled out the M1A on Sunday and shot off 240 rounds by 2:30PM (a full ammo can, all I had)...I'm not as tough as Dinky, and those last shots started getting a little more difficult.

Thanks for all the hard work, instructors.  Oh..and Cannonman, you would have been mighty cold in your piece of canvas tent and a couple of wool blankets.

[kDan]

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Frenchie on the lake.  Did you recover any of your brass?
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hardware

[kDan]

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[kDan]

I don't know why I can't do this right.  Forum disabled I guess.  o well, a couple more.  I don't have one of Jon...

Anyone...?  Anyone...?

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[B9]

Lets get it straight. It was a $78 kite at Allemans.

I can't believe it was that cold. It was nice all weekend here in NY.

[Nickle]

Lets get it straight. It was a $78 kite at Allemans.

I can't believe it was that cold. It was nice all weekend here in NY.

Rained moderately hard towards the end of the day at Middlebury, after sputtering rain all day. The wind blew fairly hard Saturday night. Check the AAR soon, after ripersnifle gets a chance to flesh it out some, I'll post some pics, you'll see what happened.

[MeanStreaker]

Congrats to all the new Ohio Riflemen!

[muxtek]

My thanks to RWVA for another great weekend.

In June, I had the fire-hose effect and was just trying to absorb the info and get hits on target. My new tech sights needed tweaked and I didn't know how to adjust them mechanically. The important thing was that I learned how to go about shooting a rifle properly.

This time, my sights were dead on at 6:00. So I did much better, and am a solid 300 yard shooter. I can hit the 400's but need more bulls-eyes to get the point total up. On one Qualification AQT 200 yard target, I put 5 rnds through the center ragged hole from sitting. I was pumped! I recently discovered I'm cross dominant with the eyes, but wanted to stick with irons. I may get a 2nd 10/22 and scope that, so I can work with both. What I plan to do better next time is have the rifle really clean and properly lubed. I know that was lacking, and probably had a lot to do with my feeding problems. Switching between ammo brands and types, lead/copper, won't happen next time either. When I'm clearing malf's, dropping rounds, loosing count on target, (where was I?), trying to re-aquire, trying to hurry before cease fire...recipie for trouble. Yes, I shot one 300 yd AQT course from prone over at Frenchie. I just need to keep my mental focus on the target, not on what the rifle is doing. Easily solve-able problem. I will probably switch to ruger rotary mags as well to improve my mechanical integrity. I'll be fine next time.

Despite all that, my lowest completed AQT was 136, my highest was 174. And many more averaged in the mid 150's. Sharpshooter. Nothing to sneeze at. Having a goal to continue working toward is probably a better thing for me anyway. I need to read Fred's book and buy some AQT's and work at my own pace. Had I not gone to both Minerva shoots I wouldn't know what I needed to be doing to reach the top skill level. A lot of factors have to properly combine to produce rifleman scores. I just need to put them all together at the same time. See you next year at another Ohio event.

Muxtek
(For the RO's I was the OFCC guy in the grey hooded sweatshirt.)

[sixgunsal]

Muxtek, I made the same mistake of switching ammo. Started with Israeli surplus then switched to my reloads. I had to rezero my Aimpoint because my POI was 3" high. This cost me one AQT monkeying around. Definetely keep your 22 clean enough to eat off of !!  Otherwise they get finicky.